Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram was one of the five new inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame when the additional list of players to the original 55 was released here on Tuesday. Representing Pakistan in 104 Tests and 356 ODIs for Pakistan after making his debut in 1984, Wasim was delighted by the induction into the list that includes the likes of Don Bradman, Imran Khan, Ian Chappell, Javed Miandad and Hanif Mohammad.‘It’s a dream come true to be honest and I never thought I’d reach this far,’ Wasim, who has 414 Test wickets and became the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODIs, told Dawn. ‘It’s also a great honour for me, means a lot to be part of such an elite list and shows I have done something worthwhile in my life and worked hard to achieve what I did.’
Wasim, Man of the Match in the 1992 World Cup final that Pakistan won by beating England, also captained Pakistan in 25 Tests and 109 ODIs, including the 1999 World Cup final that Australia won by eight wickets. Recalling the defeat at Lord’s, Wasim labelled it one of the lowest moments in his 19-year career but was quick to point out the highlights that allowed him to enter the Cricket Hall of Fame.
‘My whole career was a rollercoaster. Though the loss in the 1999 final was the lowest point in my career, I’m a person who believes in positives and forgetting the negatives. Thankfully, I’ve had more positives than negatives including the 1992 World Cup final, winning in India in 1987, the Test-series win against England in 1992 and the West Indies whitewash in 1997.
‘I will also cherish the ten-wicket haul against Australia in 1989 and my first century that made me realise I can bat and that I should work hard on my batting though I never did.’
Not forgetting his mammoth nine-hour stay at the crease while scoring 257 against Zimbabwe in Sheikhupura, Wasim labelled it ‘something out of the ordinary’ and reckoned that innings showed he had the potential to become a better batsman than his figures showed. ‘That innings was no fluke because you can only score a century as a fluke, not a 250-plus score. I batted for nine hours and realised that in order to score runs, you need to stay at the crease and at that time the cricket ball seemed as a big as a football and if Saqlain [Mushtaq] hadn’t been dismissed, I may have even scored 300.’
‘While the award is more of a personal satisfaction, a gesture that says I’ve done well in the field of cricket, it should also motivate our team and youngsters who are either involved with cricket right now or will play in the future. It tells them that if you do well consistently, you will be rewarded one day.’
The four other new inductees include Herbert Sutcliffe (England) and the Australian trio of Clarrie Grimmett, Victor Trumper and Steve Waugh.
© Faras Ghani 2009.
Published in DAWN newspaper, Oct 1, 2009.
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